Exonerated death row inmates readjust to society after release

Published: Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 4:57 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 4:57 p.m.

In 2004, Alan Gell walked out of a Bertie County courtroom a free man.

Facts

By the Numbers:

Death row exonerations in the United States: 142Death row exonerations in North Carolina: 8Number of executions in North Carolina since 1976: 43Number of inmates currently on North Carolina's death row: 152

Sources: Death Penalty Information Center, N.C. Department of Public Safety.

After languishing nearly five years on death row for a murder he did not commit, a new jury overturned his original conviction. But despite the sense of vindication that accompanied his freedom, Gell felt uneasy and scared.

He was released into a foreign world where toilets flushed automatically "and scared the crap out of you," he said. On the outside, he had no access to health care or social services. And with an erroneous murder conviction on his record, it felt impossible to find a job.

"They threw me to the wolves," he said in a telephone interview earlier this week. "If it was not for my family, I don't know what I would have done."

Gell is among 18 exonerated death row inmates whose post-release odysseys form the subject of a recently released book entitled, "Life After Death Row: Exonerees' Search for Community and Identity," co-authored by professors at University of North Carolina campuses in Wilmington and Greensboro.

The authors, Kimberly J. Cook, chair of UNCW's sociology and criminology department; and Saundra D. Westervelt, associate professor of sociology at UNCG, highlight what critics call shortcomings in how states provide assistance to exonerees. Namely, their findings underscore an emerging focal point among scholars, journalists and advocates: that innocent individuals freed from prison typically receive less help than the government provides guilty ones after they are released. Parolees often get access to job training, substance abuse services and perhaps even temporary housing.

"Exonerees," Cook said in an interview last month, "get nothing."

The authors conceived the idea for their research when they first met during a conference in 2000 but actually embarked on the project in 2003, traveling around the country talking to those who literally escaped death. One of their participants, an former inmate in Florida, once came within hours of being executed.

In the United States, 142 people have been freed from death row, including eight in North Carolina, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, based in Washington, D.C. On average, death row exonerees spent nearly 10 years in prison before release.

"The whole idea was, what is life like for individuals who basically had their lives robbed from them?" Westervelt said. "What is that life like when they get back? Up until that point, the few pictures of life that we had were from journalists who focused mainly on the case – they might show the exoneration when people are really happy. But I knew enough about parolees that life (for exonerees) couldn't be that great."

Around the country, only about 10 programs exist for helping exonerees re-adjust to life in the free world, but they are mainly nonprofit organizations rather than state or federal agencies.

"Since the justice system perpetrated this wrongful conviction, the justice system should participate in correcting it and assisting exonerees when they are released from prison," Cook said.

All proceeds from sale of Life After Death Row will be donated to Witness to Innocence and Centurion Ministries, two nonprofits that help wrongfully incarcerated individuals.

Common Struggles

The book uses interviews with death row exonerees to identify common struggles that they encounter. Those obstacles range from rebuilding their identities and relationships to figuring out which breakfast cereal to buy at the grocery store.

Their work already caught the attention of policymakers in North Carolina, a state that has not executed a person since 2006. Last month, Cook and Westervelt recommended to the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission, a consortium of legislators and law enforcement officials, automatically expunging exonerees' records upon release, providing immediate physical and mental healthcare, and softening eligibility for state compensation.

Legislators on the commission did not respond to requests for comment. The commission's executive director called the presentation "informative."

Advocates say North Carolina leads other states in trying to correct and prevent injustices. It was the first state to task a formal body, called the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, with examining prisoner claims of innocence, officials say. Since its inception in 2007, the commission received more than 1,200 claims and has exonerated four people.

In addition, North Carolina adopted a string of laws a few years ago meant to prevent wrongful convictions from occurring in the first place. Those reforms, which experts say were embraced by prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, include changes to how investigators conduct lineups and interrogations.

"Reforms have been put in place because we acknowledge that this is a human system and, therefore, human error can happen," said Christine Mumma, director of The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence and a defense attorney who has represented wrongfully convicted inmates.

Mark Rabil, director of Wake Forest University's Innocence and Justice Clinic and a former capital defender, said North Carolina is somewhat unique in that judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have coalesced around a common goal for reforming the criminal justice system to protect the innocent.

"We actually led the nation with a lot of the reforms that have been made, that a lot of other states are trying to catch up with," he said.

Prepared for Freedom

Providing services to exonerees is tricky, state officials contend. North Carolina divides its prisoners into essentially two main groups: those who will get out one day and those who won't because they have life or death sentences.

For those with a release date, the state tries to prepare them for reintegration into society, providing job training and education opportunities. Inmates incarcerated for the rest of their lives do not receive the same services. And there is little time to prepare exonerees for freedom because they are released so quickly, state officials say.

"Once you become a free citizen, what authority would the department have to tell you to go to a treatment class?" asked Nicole Sullivan, manager of the office of research and planning at the N.C. Department of Public Safety. "We have no leverage to make you go."

But critics say exonerees are often released without so much as a "quarter to make a phone call," as Cook put it. So the question then becomes how to link exonerees with immediate assistance so they can get back on their feet.

Cook and Westervelt say only a small proportion of exonerees receive compensation. Only 23 states have compensation laws. North Carolina boasts one of the most generous, awarding $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. But the process often takes years. And to qualify, exonerees must obtain a governor's pardon – a task that often proves elusive. As a result, only about 23 percent of them win compensation through the law, Westervelt said.

Gell believes he should not have to ask the state to correct a wrong that it perpetrated. He instead filed a lawsuit against prosecutors and investigators and in 2009, settled for $3.9 million, according to the book.

Today, Gell's life has assumed a degree of normalcy. He is in a healthy relationship and has kids. But the stigma of being "that guy" who once served time on death row still sticks to him.

<p>In 2004, Alan Gell walked out of a Bertie County courtroom a free man. </p><p>After languishing nearly five years on death row for a murder he did not commit, a new jury overturned his original conviction. But despite the sense of vindication that accompanied his freedom, Gell felt uneasy and scared. </p><p>He was released into a foreign world where toilets flushed automatically "and scared the crap out of you," he said. On the outside, he had no access to health care or social services. And with an erroneous murder conviction on his record, it felt impossible to find a job. </p><p>"They threw me to the wolves," he said in a telephone interview earlier this week. "If it was not for my family, I don't know what I would have done." </p><p>Gell is among 18 exonerated death row inmates whose post-release odysseys form the subject of a recently released book entitled, "Life After Death Row: Exonerees' Search for Community and Identity," co-authored by professors at University of North Carolina campuses in Wilmington and Greensboro. </p><p>The authors, Kimberly J. Cook, chair of <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic71"><b>UNCW</b></a>'s sociology and criminology department; and Saundra D. Westervelt, associate professor of sociology at UNCG, highlight what critics call shortcomings in how states provide assistance to exonerees. Namely, their findings underscore an emerging focal point among scholars, journalists and advocates: that innocent individuals freed from prison typically receive less help than the government provides guilty ones after they are released. Parolees often get access to job training, substance abuse services and perhaps even temporary housing. </p><p>"Exonerees," Cook said in an interview last month, "get nothing."</p><p>The authors conceived the idea for their research when they first met during a conference in 2000 but actually embarked on the project in 2003, traveling around the country talking to those who literally escaped death. One of their participants, an former inmate in Florida, once came within hours of being executed. </p><p>In the United States, 142 people have been freed from death row, including eight in North Carolina, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, based in Washington, D.C. On average, death row exonerees spent nearly 10 years in prison before release.</p><p>"The whole idea was, what is life like for individuals who basically had their lives robbed from them?" Westervelt said. "What is that life like when they get back? Up until that point, the few pictures of life that we had were from journalists who focused mainly on the case – they might show the exoneration when people are really happy. But I knew enough about parolees that life (for exonerees) couldn't be that great."</p><p>Around the country, only about 10 programs exist for helping exonerees re-adjust to life in the free world, but they are mainly nonprofit organizations rather than state or federal agencies. </p><p>"Since the justice system perpetrated this wrongful conviction, the justice system should participate in correcting it and assisting exonerees when they are released from prison," Cook said.</p><p>All proceeds from sale of Life After Death Row will be donated to Witness to Innocence and Centurion Ministries, two nonprofits that help wrongfully incarcerated individuals.</p><p>Common Struggles</p><p>The book uses interviews with death row exonerees to identify common struggles that they encounter. Those obstacles range from rebuilding their identities and relationships to figuring out which breakfast cereal to buy at the grocery store. </p><p>Their work already caught the attention of policymakers in North Carolina, a state that has not executed a person since 2006. Last month, Cook and Westervelt recommended to the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission, a consortium of legislators and law enforcement officials, automatically expunging exonerees' records upon release, providing immediate physical and mental healthcare, and softening eligibility for state compensation. </p><p>Legislators on the commission did not respond to requests for comment. The commission's executive director called the presentation "informative." </p><p>Advocates say North Carolina leads other states in trying to correct and prevent injustices. It was the first state to task a formal body, called the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, with examining prisoner claims of innocence, officials say. Since its inception in 2007, the commission received more than 1,200 claims and has exonerated four people.</p><p>In addition, North Carolina adopted a string of laws a few years ago meant to prevent wrongful convictions from occurring in the first place. Those reforms, which experts say were embraced by prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, include changes to how investigators conduct lineups and interrogations. </p><p>"Reforms have been put in place because we acknowledge that this is a human system and, therefore, human error can happen," said Christine Mumma, director of The North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence and a defense attorney who has represented wrongfully convicted inmates.</p><p>Mark Rabil, director of Wake Forest University's Innocence and Justice Clinic and a former capital defender, said North Carolina is somewhat unique in that judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have coalesced around a common goal for reforming the criminal justice system to protect the innocent. </p><p>"We actually led the nation with a lot of the reforms that have been made, that a lot of other states are trying to catch up with," he said.</p><p>Prepared for Freedom</p><p>Providing services to exonerees is tricky, state officials contend. North Carolina divides its prisoners into essentially two main groups: those who will get out one day and those who won't because they have life or death sentences. </p><p>For those with a release date, the state tries to prepare them for reintegration into society, providing job training and education opportunities. Inmates incarcerated for the rest of their lives do not receive the same services. And there is little time to prepare exonerees for freedom because they are released so quickly, state officials say. </p><p>"Once you become a free citizen, what authority would the department have to tell you to go to a treatment class?" asked Nicole Sullivan, manager of the office of research and planning at the N.C. Department of Public Safety. "We have no leverage to make you go." </p><p>But critics say exonerees are often released without so much as a "quarter to make a phone call," as Cook put it. So the question then becomes how to link exonerees with immediate assistance so they can get back on their feet. </p><p>Cook and Westervelt say only a small proportion of exonerees receive compensation. Only 23 states have compensation laws. North Carolina boasts one of the most generous, awarding $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. But the process often takes years. And to qualify, exonerees must obtain a governor's pardon – a task that often proves elusive. As a result, only about 23 percent of them win compensation through the law, Westervelt said. </p><p>Gell believes he should not have to ask the state to correct a wrong that it perpetrated. He instead filed a lawsuit against prosecutors and investigators and in 2009, settled for $3.9 million, according to the book. </p><p>Today, Gell's life has assumed a degree of normalcy. He is in a healthy relationship and has kids. But the stigma of being "that guy" who once served time on death row still sticks to him. </p><p>"You never really get over the whole deal," he said. </p><p><i></p><p><a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9904"><b>Brian Freskos</b></a>: 343-2327</p><p>On <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a>: @BrianFreskos</i></p>